Music in the Garden: The Twangtown Paramours

// ABOUT THE TWANGTOWN PARAMOURS //

Nashville-based husband-and-wife duo Mike T. Lewis and MaryBeth Zamer, known on stage as The Twangtown Paramours, have made a name for themselves defying boundaries with their award-winning catalogue of Americana, folk, and blues anthems. With a slew of accolades for their three full-length albums, they’ve earned a loyal following, balancing serious instrumental and vocal chops with witty stage banter and a lighthearted approach to life. They don’t take themselves, or the world, too seriously. With their third album, Double Down on a Bad Thing, The Twangtown Paramours shift gears to showcase a full band, electric, groove-oriented, upbeat, soul-infused, and retro blues sound. “We want people to have fun, to cheer up, to dance, and to start sporting a positive attitude, dammit,” says Mike.  

Hit songwriter, session musician, and producer Mike Lewis was born in NYC, but his sound is informed by a mix of experiences across the country’s major music centers, including NYC, L.A., Austin, and Nashville. He began learning classical and jazz guitar at age eight, studying under Leonid Bolotine, William Matthews, and Barry Galbraith, before earning degrees at Columbia in New York City and the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles. He wrote a #1 platinum pop hit ranked the 2nd biggest-selling female ballad of all time in Korea, and occasionally plays upright bass for Jimmie Dale Gilmore. 

Born in Washington D.C., lead singer MaryBeth Zamer was raised on a mix of opera and American songbook music, singing along to Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald, before discovering Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, and the blues in high school. A fixture in the Washington, D.C. club scene for years, MaryBeth performed with popular local cover band, Ignition and sang backup vocals for Eva Cassidy’s band, Method Actor. “Eva was a huge influence on my singing style,” MaryBeth says. “She taught me to go beyond having fun and hitting the right notes, to sing in a way that conveys real emotion.” 

MaryBeth and Mike met and started dating in 2009, while both were working on separate musical projects. “The relationship came first,” says MaryBeth, “but I kept hearing songs he’d written that I loved, and I wanted to add my own vocal spin to them. I felt like I could interpret and deliver Mike’s songs the way he intended them to be.” The Twangtown Paramours released their debut self-titled album via Inside Edge Records just a year later in 2010, a well-received, pop-infused folk album that rose to #11 on the Folk charts. In 2012, they released their second full-length project, The Promise of Friday Night, a narrative-driven, acoustic folk album that hit #2 on the Folk charts, #150 on the Americana charts, and #7 on Deep Roots Magazine’s top 50 albums of 2012. In the following years, the pair became three-time finalists at the Kerrville New Folk Competition in Kerrville, TX and winners of the Wildflower Contest in Richardson, TX. They also had the honor to open for major acts such as Joe Ely, Claire Lynch, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

// ABOUT THE MUSIC IN THE GARDEN SERIES //

Stanley-Whitman House's Music in the Garden Series presents artists and shows differently than a club show- instead, our house concert is more up close and personal. All of the artifice is stripped away. There is no stage, no dressing rooms, and no barrier between the performer and the audience. The SWH Music in the Garden series is more like being one step closer to how music was intended- an artist traveling from town to town, telling stories, and making friends. Come check this out!

// ABOUT STANLEY-WHITMAN HOUSE //

In 1935, Stanley-Whitman House was established as Farmington's first museum. It is a nationally recognized historic house museum and living history center that teaches through the collection, preservation, research, and dynamic interpretation of the history and culture of early Farmington, Connecticut. Programs, events, classes, and exhibits encourage visitors of all ages to immerse themselves in history by doing, acting, questioning, and engaging in colonial life and the ideas that formed the foundation of that culture.

Located in the historic village of Farmington, the museum facility centers on a circa 1720 National Historic Landmark house furnished with period antiques to reflect the everyday activities of Colonial life in Connecticut. Surrounding the house are period-raised bed gardens, an apple orchard, and heritage stone walls.

The public service areas of the museum, constructed in 2004, include a modern classroom, a period tavern room, a post-and-beam Welcome Center, a research library, an exhibit gallery, the Nancy Conklin History Gallery, and a collection storage area.

In addition to managing Memento Mori, Farmington’s ancient cemetery on Main Street, and the Village Green, located at the intersection of Routes 4 and 10, the museum also oversees the Scott Swamp Cemetery on Route 6. The Stanley-Whitman House is supported in part by the Farmington Village Green and Library Association.

// SUPPORT STANLEY-WHITMAN HOUSE //

At Stanley Whitman House, our commitment to accessibility is paramount. While not all of our programs are free, we strive to offer as many as possible at no cost, thanks to the generous support of our underwriters. If you wish to assist us in this mission, we welcome donations, which help us to expand further and diversify our range of activities. Your contributions play a crucial role in maintaining and increasing the accessibility of our programs.